


Dancing In The Dark

by RaeofDarkness



Category: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015), Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Insert General Tag here, Multi, Youtuber AU, dance au, have mercy, this is my first fic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-02-26
Updated: 2018-02-26
Packaged: 2019-03-24 12:39:35
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,334
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13811352
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RaeofDarkness/pseuds/RaeofDarkness
Summary: Kylo Ren has mastered the world of Dance for years. He's unstoppable with multiple wins under his belt. Teaching at The First Order Studio has only added experience.New up and comer Rey Niima is good at what she does and she knows it. After teaching for a year at Resistance Dance, she aches for a challenge. When one offers itself during a harmless Q&A livestream, she takes it.Look out YouTube. Things are about to get messy.(AKA That one YouTube AU that nobody asked for but y'all are getting anyway)





	Dancing In The Dark

**Author's Note:**

> Chapter Title From "Calm Down" By Krewella

Kylo Ren was a fearsome dancer in the world of competition as well as YouTube. However, there are times such as these where he just wanted to lay in bed and dive into the endless world that is the video platform. Scrolling through his subscriptions was innocent enough. There was no way for him to end up on that profile from the night before, what was it? ReyFromNowhere. Huffing, Kylo tried to banish the thoughts of the lithe dancer that had graced his screen for several hours last night. Rey was a up and comer, a newbie that would be eaten alive at First Order Studios. It would not help him relax to have her dancing her way into his thoughts at every turn. 

Of course that would also involve him deleting her username from his search bar. But to do so would be the ultimate sin. She was only a click away. But she was unattainable. Sipping his tea from his black mug, Kylo clicked on the livestream that recently popped up for the Resistance Dance. While they were the First Order’s bitter enemies, he admired the way that a diverse group of individuals could come together so cohesively. As the screen loaded to catch up with the live stream, Kylo mused over the odd gang that was the front of Resistance.

Poe Dameron was the leader, yet he had none of the maturity that was required of a leader at the calibre at which they all danced. His preference was for songs that either were sexual or the aggravating pop that seemed to stab Kylo’s eardrums when he heard it wafting through the Studio or in public. He couldn’t understand the appeal of such mindless drivel. But Poe’s routines to these are what draws his fanbase in, something Kylo could get behind as he does try to appeal to the audience every once in awhile. Especially if Snoke believed views were dropping.

Jessika Pava was the next in line as she was with the Resistance from the very beginning. A leggy asian, she, like poe, was aware of her sex appeal and made it clear that she was going to use it to her advantage in her lessons as well competition. Kylo knew she was merely sticking to her strengths, he found it boring. Dropping into sexual poses and trying to look sexier gets old, especially if its repeated across all routines. 

Finn Barin was a traitor, a traitor who betrayed the First order. While it could be construed as just a dance school, The First Order was a close knit group and few left. Finn was one of those few. While Finn’s style was unique, it was also a paradox. It was different and familiar at the same time. Kylo didn’t understand it, but it was clear that people loved it. Had Finn stayed with the First Order, perhaps there would be more trophies within that elegant case in the lobby. Fantasizing was not going to help Kylo get better or keep the First Order at the top.

A chorus of voices brought Kylo out of the haze of his mind. He almost choked on his tongue as he gaped at the woman sitting between Poe and Finn. Rey.  _ The _ Rey. What was she doing on a livestream for Resistance? There must be some mistake. There was no way this girl, this swan, would even attend Resistance, let alone teach as the title suggested.  _ Happy One Year Rey!  _ An entire year of teaching at the Resistance and Kylo had never clicked on any of her videos. How had he not realized that ReyFromNowhere was an instructor at Resistance? He had seen her name over and over as he scrolled through their feed, but he hadn’t made the connection. Kylo was sure that happened all of the time, he wasn’t the only one. 

With that reassurance on his mind, Kylo took the time to notice who she was sandwiched between. Poe and Finn. His eyes narrowed on Poe’s hand that was dangerously high on Rey’s thigh. As far as he knew, they weren’t together. But then again, he didn’t even know Rey taught dance. So his knowledge wasn’t necessarily reliable. It may be common knowledge that the two are a thing, they could mention it on their blog page, that while he may follow, he doesn’t watch. Kylo doesn’t have the patience to watch the shenanigans of the Resistance Dance crew. Yet here he was watching a livestream that was sure to be full of said shenanigans. He hummed as he noticed that the stream was going to focus on Q&A.  _ That’s one way to learn about a person. _ Kylo noted, Q&A’s were the bane of his existence, as he did prefer to keep his personal life separate from the persona he displayed as he danced or taught. 

“First question of the day!” Rey’s accent, thick from excitement, rang out. “How were you scouted by the Resistance? This is for all of us.” Rey tucked a stray hair back into her unique three tier bun. “Poe, would you be a dear and go first since you’ve been here the longest?” She looked at him, smile easy on her lips. Kylo arched an eyebrow at her relaxed state. Perhaps that was how it was with her. Always nice and relaxed. Must be nice.

“Oh no.” Poe laughed. “That story… So when I was in high school, just to spite my mother, who absolutely insisted I go into sports, I joined the dance team. She was livid until my senior year when I was approached by none other than Leia Organa-Solo of the Rebellion Dance Crew. She was opening a Dance School and needed instructors. Having seen my performances, she decided that I was the one to lead the younglings of the Resistance.” Poe smirked.

“Not! You would have scarred the poor things!” Rey laughed, gently smacking Poe’s arm. 

“You’re right. I was elected to instruct the young adults and adults. It was terrifying teaching people older than me at first, because, I mean, I was raised to fear every adult that crossed my path. So it was weird but I got used to it. I enjoy teaching here, because, well, its satisfying. They light up once they nail a move and the adrenaline just pumps through the room. It’s awesome.” He smiled, genuinely proud of his students. Kylo was taken aback by the sincerity of his words. Poe was known to be a cocky little shit at times, but this…. This was going to end in even more fangirls flocking to him and inflating his god awful ego. 

“My turn!” Finn went to jump up but Rey held onto his arm, preventing such a thing. “I was a dancer at First Order Studio since I was a child. It was nice at first. Everyone was the same, no matter your age, gender, or race. It was a definite change from my old, run-down neighborhood, where everyone had a place and if you stepped out of line, then it would eat you alive. I enjoyed First Order because it gave a semblance of equality. As I got older, I noticed that things weren’t like they were supposed to be, how they were when I was a kid.” His somber tone held Kylo’s attention, more than he would like to admit. He would rather die than admit to the traitor that he understood where he was coming from. “The First Order was like a military. Everyone learns the same routine and you have to have it perfect within the day or you would be forced to run laps. I mean, it’s one of the clauses of the waiver they have you sign, so it wasn’t like I was going in blind. But I wanted to shake things up. Develop my own style. It wasn’t allowed. And at this point I was an instructor in training, so I’m like a puppy, trailing my trainer around like “Do I do this now?” and “Is this allowed?”. It was rough. I honestly wanted to teach but I couldn’t, not at First Order. Now I’m not knocking their style. They’ve won championships, so obviously their routine works… Just not for me. So I turned in my resignation letter. I started complaining to my roommate at the time. And he got so annoyed with me, he just up and left for, like, two hours. When he came back, he threw this giant packet at my head and says “You start next week. Now Shut up so I can sleep.” It was a schedule slash employee packet thing. For Resistance.” Finn was grinning. 

“I was the roommate.” Poe jumped in. “He was so pitiful.” He laughed as an offended “Hey!” from Finn was thrown.

“Now it’s my turn!” Rey beamed, and Kylo sat up, wanting to understand how she managed to go for the lowest of the low. “I quite literally grew up in the middle of nowhere, a desert. But there were these gorgeous ruins that weren’t closed off, or being protected by some private business. I loved to go there to choreograph and just dance. It was peaceful. Nice. Anyway, so I start posting my videos and Director Organa-Solo notices them. And for some reason, decides to send these two to talk to me.” She gestures to Poe and Finn, the former already dissolving into giggles and the latter trying to fight off the laughter that’s bound to come. “Poe steps one foot in town and says “Fuck it.” He’s on a flight back home. He doesn’t come back. Finn gets directions to the ruins where I do my thing and is just. I can’t. This poor soul is wearing all black and has zero water. He is  _ suffering _ and yet he keeps going. He gets to where I am and is just “Water”.” Rey tries to imitate a raspy tone but can’t without laughing. “So i just hand him my water bottle and in two seconds, its gone. Now, I typically have a cooler full of water with me, because the heat is no joke. So I just casually take out another bottle and hand it over. Five bottles later, he’s hunched over because he didn’t listen to me when I said to take it slow. But I decided to move from Jakku, like I said, Nowhere to Coruscant. Because honestly, that was dedication and determination on Finn’s part. Now Poe on the other hand….” She gave him a look, one that Kylo instinctively flinched at, she looked so disappointed.

“I am not about to suffer just so you can sign a piece of paper.” Poe deadpanned. 

“Nice to know.” Rey nodded, her voice dry.

“Anyway!” Finn leaned forward to read the next question. “This one’s for all of us as well. What was the first song you choreographed at the Resistance?” 

Rey hummed in thought while Poe tilted his head slightly. Kylo rolled his eyes. It was so cliche. Did their fans not have two brain cells to rub together? 

Finn spoke up first. “I think my first song here was “Run This Town” with Rihanna and Jay-Z.” 

Poe nodded. “Yea, I was in there as you taught it. Mine was Ice Ice Baby by Vanilla ice.” He cringed as Rey laughed. Kylo wanted to gag. Vanilla Ice? Seriously?

Rey hummed once more. “My first song here was...Rockabye With Sean Paul and Anne-Marie.” She smiled. “That was a fun choreo.” Kylo cocked his head, being unable to pull the song from memory. He made a mental note to look the song up. 

Poe read out the next question. “Have any of you participated in a dance war? Can’t say I have, but if I do, I’d like to go against the redhead from First order. He is such a prick and it’d be nice to knock him on his ass for once.” Rey went wide eyed while Finn laughed. Kylo couldn’t read the comments fast enough but they were mostly “ooohs” and he saw one that said “them’s fightin words”.  Kylo thought of the prospective of the two duking it out. He felt Hux could win, but he wasn’t sure. He focused on the traitor next.

Finn bit his lip. “I haven’t been in one but I’d like to challenge Phasma. She was brutal in class. A little old fashioned revenge would be nice.” Kylo’s eyebrows shot up. Phasma would eat him alive. He would love to see that in action. 

Leaning forward, he listened for Rey’s response. “I can’t say I know what a dance war is.” She admitted, shrugging. 

“Long story short, it’s when rival instructors choreograph the same song and whichever one gets the most likes wins that battle. Typically, they’re like ten or fifteen songs long, depending on the rivals.” Finn explained as Poe whipped out to text someone. Kylo rolled his eyes at the audacity.

“Then no, I haven’t been in a dance war.” Rey went to go on but Poe interrupted.

“Jess says she wants in and is challenging, and I quote, “That bitch Bazine”.” Poe read out. The comments went wild again. Kylo couldn’t blame them. It looked like YouTube was about to become a battlefield with First Order Studio going against Resistance Dance. He hoped to avoid it.

“Well then. I suppose there’s only one person left for me to challenge.” Rey smiled. Kylo shook his head. He didn’t want this. He was going to face her? How? She has had no professional training. She’s going to lose. And bring Resistance down with her. Perhaps it won’t be a bad thing. “I challenge Kylo Ren. Someone needs to knock him off his high horse. He’s been acting like a jerk for long enough.” Rey smirked.

Kylo’s jaw dropped. The nerve she had was admirable. But she called him out. Point blank. Clenching his jaw in anger he typed out his response in the comments.

_ Game On. _

**Author's Note:**

> Please tell me what you thought! I live for constructive Criticism as it can help me grow as a writer.


End file.
